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May 2, 2012 3:13 pm | By Justin
Record-Breaking Effort to SEC: Disclose Corporate Spending on Elections
Until a constitutional amendment can overturn Citizens United, progressives around the country are working on various legislative workarounds to address the flood of corporate money being spent to influence our elections. While only a constitutional amendment can restore to the…
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May 2, 2012 3:02 pm | By Justin
Alec Baldwin Talks Bork
Last night, actor and PFAW board member Alec Baldwin appeared on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, where they discussed, as the host put it, “the number one reason to vote for president”: the United States Supreme Court. Baldwin noted…
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May 1, 2012 3:57 pm | By Justin
Leaked ALEC Documents Show Extent of Influence
The American Legislative Exchange Council’s influence over state legislative bodies is well documented. We’ve seen countless examples of corporate lobbyist-drafted model legislation, developed at exclusive retreats at fancy resorts out of the public’s eye, make its way to the statehouse…
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May 1, 2012 1:07 am | By Jen Herrick
President listens, supports anti-bullying legislation
Back in March, PFAW and AAMIA joined 70 national and state organizations in calling on President Obama to publicly support and endorse the Student Non-Discrimination Act. We view an endorsement of the Student Non-Discrimination Act as the next important step…
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April 30, 2012 9:46 pm | By Justin
YP4 Featured Fellow: Johnny Buck
Young People For (YP4), a program of People For the American Way Foundation, is a year-long leadership development program that helps a diverse set of student leaders turn their idealism into actions that advance social change on their campuses and…
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April 30, 2012 2:19 pm | By Jamie Raskin
Mitt Romney’s Constitutional Advisor, Robert Bork, Continues the War on Women’s Rights
This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post. Mitt Romney is eager these days to change the subject from what the public sees as his party's "war on women." He seeks to close the huge gender gap that has opened…
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April 27, 2012 5:20 pm | By Calvin Sloan
ALEC in Arizona – On the Run
ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council, and ALEC members are on the run in Arizona. As more Arizonans learn about the tactics and operating procedures of the obscure network, the organization and its corporate funders are scrambling to come up…
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April 26, 2012 2:41 pm | By admin
Dolores Huerta: My Message to the National Organization for Marriage
By Dolores Huerta I am a proud Latina and a proud supporter of LGBT rights. The National Organization for Marriage seems to think I can’t be both. In a 2009 strategy document that was made public last month, NOM…
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April 25, 2012 7:59 pm | By Paul Gordon
Emergencies Among Pending Judicial Nominations Increase By a Third
As noted yesterday, the number of judicial emergencies is skyrocketing. This week, the Administrative Office of U.S. Courts formally re-classified seven current vacancies as judicial emergencies, meaning that there are so many cases and so few judges, that the courts…
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April 25, 2012 7:55 pm | By Calvin Sloan
PFAW Supports the U.S. Justice Department in Arizona v. United States
This morning, the Supreme Court heard the oral arguments of Arizona v. United States, a case that will examine key provisions of Arizona’s infamous and draconian immigration law, SB 1070. If implemented, the law, colloquially known as the ‘show me…
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April 25, 2012 4:42 pm | By Justin
ALEC Confirms Shift to Economic Focus Just a PR Move
Responding to pressure from consumers who don’t want the companies they do business with to support an extreme agenda, 13 major corporations have withdrawn their membership from ALEC. The organization has been under pressure from activists outraged at ALEC’s support…
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April 24, 2012 9:39 pm | By Miranda Blue
Victim of James O’Keefe’s Voter Fraud Isn’t Buying It
In early April, after she went to cast her ballot in Washington, DC, NBC Latino contributor Alicia Menendez found out that someone else had also tried to cast a ballot in her name. The perpetrator was an ally of right-wing…
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April 24, 2012 9:19 pm | By Paul Gordon
Judicial Emergencies Skyrocket
Yesterday, as part of the agreement on 14 judicial nominations reached between the parties last month, Republicans allowed the Senate to hold a confirmation vote for Brian Wimes, nominee for a district court judgeship in Missouri. Wimes was forced to…
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April 23, 2012 9:59 pm | By Justin
ALEC Double Whammy: Whistleblower Complaint and Another Corporate Departure
It’s been a rough start to the week over at the American Legislative Exchange Council. Common Cause has submitted a formal whistleblower complaint against ALEC to the IRS this morning, alleging that the organization has flouted federal tax laws by…
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April 23, 2012 6:11 pm | By Justin
Introducing YP4 Featured Fellows
Young People For (YP4), a program of People For the American Way Foundation, is a year-long leadership development program that helps a diverse set of student leaders turn their idealism into actions that advance social change on their campuses and…
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April 20, 2012 7:49 pm | By Paul Gordon
Sisterhood on the Supreme Court
Linda Greenhouse has an interesting column this week on last month's 5-4 decision in which the Roberts Court poked a hole in the Family and Medical Leave Act. Coleman v. Court of Appeals of Maryland involved an FMLA provision requiring…
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April 20, 2012 7:41 pm | By Justin
The American People Reject Citizens United. Whose Representatives are Listening?
Recent polling indicates the vast majority of Americans believe that corporations and special interests have too much sway in our elections – a whopping 85 % of voters said that corporations have too much influence over the political system, and…
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April 20, 2012 4:49 pm | By Miranda Blue
Sessions Objects to Judicial Nominee Who Called Kagan ‘Qualified’
The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday approved the nomination of Maine attorney William Kayatta Jr. to sit on the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals. Only two committee members voted against allowing Kayatta a vote from the full Senate: Utah’s Mike Lee,…
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April 19, 2012 9:22 pm | By Justin
ALEC Update: 12th Corporation Drops Out
Yum! Brands, the parent company of fast food chains such as KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, has decided to leave the American Legislative Exchange Council, according to Color of Change. This makes Yum! The 12th company to disassociate from…
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April 19, 2012 3:36 pm | By Miranda Blue
Mitt Romney, Judge Bork, and the Future of America’s Courts
People For the American Way launched a major new campaign today highlighting what a Mitt Romney presidency would mean for America’s courts. Romney has signaled that he’s ready to draw the Supreme Court and lower federal courts even farther to…